Seattle filmmakers lobby to halt Nigerian violence

Violence returned to the Niger delta this month, putting a group of Northwest documentary filmmakers back to work — this time, without a camera.

“That’s one of the themes of the film,” said Leslye Wood, producer of “Sweet Crude,” a documentary about social strife in Africa’s largest oil exporter that will screen at the Seattle International Film Festival on Wednesday.

“When does your role as filmmaker begin to shift, when you see a place with so much injustice, and when you’re asked by people there to advocate for them?”

Wood said the filmmakers have spent the last couple weeks lobbying Congress and others to take action in the wake of renewed government attacks on militant groups this month that have displaced many and may have killed thousands.

Last time the “Sweet Crude” crew got involved in international politics, it wasn’t by choice. The crew made headlines when four, including Seattle director Sandy Cioffi, were detained by Nigerian officials while trying to finish their film.

Wood said she and her colleagues have had no luck contacting some of the film’s subjects, including several children. Oporoza, the village Wood described as a character in the movie, was one of the areas attacked in the fighting.

“It’s a real crisis,” said Wood. “It’s everything we were afraid of and warning about in the film.”

Sens. John Kerry and Russ Feingold released statements about the situation last week, partly in response to the filmmakers’ lobbying, Wood said. The filmmakers posted their own statement on the film’s Web site May 19, calling for a cease-fire and supervised peace talks.

“The tagline of the movie is, ‘What if the world paid attention before it was too late?'” Wood said. “In the last two weeks we’ve seen it’s apparently too late for some people. We hope it’s not too late for everyone.”

“Sweet Crude” will have its first screening at the Seattle International Film Festival at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Egyptian Theater, with two additional screenings later in the festival. Check here for info.